North and South slope in the Acropolis of Athens

The Slopes of the Acropolis have been inhabited from prehistoric times on, mainly because of the existence of the springs. During archaic and classical times this area became an intellectual, cultural and religious center of major importance for life in ancient Athens.

In the 6th cent. B.C. the Sanctuary of Dionysos Eleuthereus was founded on the South Slope. The theater of the same name was also established at that time, and it was here that the ancient Hellenic drama was born and flourished. Farther development during the 5th cent. B.C. included the construction of the Odeion of Perikles, where musical contests were held, and of the Sanctuary of Asklepios, the first shrine of that god in Athens. During the 4th cent. B.C., as pert of the building program of the archon Lykourgos, the sanctuary and the Theater of Dionysos were totally reorganized, while a great number of choregic monuments were erected at that period.
Later additions, the Stoa of king Eumenes II of Pergamon (2nd cent. B.C.) and the Odeum of Herodes Atticus (2nd cent. A.D.) continued the cultural and intellectual tradition of the area into the Roman era.

The east anmd North slopes also had important roles in the religious life of the city. This is indicated by the existence of the “sanctuary of Aglauros” Cave the sacred Caves, the Shrine of Aphrodite and Eros, the final section of the Panathenaic way, as well as of springs 9the Mycenaean Fountain and the klepsydra), which were often associated which cults and rituals that took place on the sacred Rock.

The urban web of ancient Athens encompassed the hill of the Acropolis and its Slopes through main roads, such as the street of the Tripods. The hill is also connected with the sanctuary of the Olympian Zeus and the southern suburbs of the ancient city of Athens through similar arteries.
The road known in antiquity as the “Peripatos”, which went around the Slopes of the Acropolis, is mentioned in an inscription of the 4th cent. B.C. that was carved on a rock on the North Slope.

From late antiquity up to the turkish occupation, the area developed a religious (churches of St Paraskevi and St. Nickolas) and intensely residential character.